What Would You Do?

A little info on the papers use by the Continental Bank Note Co. There were several paper mills that supplied paper and the relative lack of control in the paper making process resulted in variations within the various types of paper.

The Continental Bank Note Co. used 4 basic types of paper as chronologically presented below;
From the beginning of the contract (April 1873) until probably early 1876 they used a thin, hard close-wove paper that was essentially identical to the National Bank Note Co. hard paper. This paper was very smooth, grayish white color and produced a sharp impression. The average thickness was about .0025 inch.

A second hard paper was also used which was the same color and thickness as the first paper but it was a more open-wove type and when held to the light was less translucent and was slightly mottled. The printed impression often lacked the sharpness of the close-wove paper. This paper is reported from early 1875 until mid 1878.

The third paper, sometimes referred to as the Continental intermediate paper, was a medium thick (.0028 ave) open-wove paper which was grayish white and slightly to moderately mottled with the impression lacking the sharpness if the hard paper printings. This paper is reported min 1877 to late 1878.

The final paper was the thick, soft open wove that is essentially the American soft paper. This paper was about .003 inch thick with a yellowish white color and mottled appearance. The impressions where not as crisp as the other papers and were sometimes even slightly blurred. This paper was reported from late summer/early fall 1878 until the consolidation as American Bank Note Co.

Russ, great summary of the data! Is this from the Lowell Cooper article on paper mesh? (1979 Congress Book, v.45: 145ff)